The present invention is related to a protective apparatus intended to be applied to an exterior portion of a vehicle, including a method for such application.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is a protective apparatus intended to be applied to an exterior portion of a vehicle, including a method for such application. More particularly, in the preferred mode, the invention is a series of polyvinyl chloride sheets or panels affixed to previously-determined places along the vehicle to protect the paint and finish located at such areas. In one specific application of the above, such panels are designed to be placed beneath a halter or “bra” cover of a vehicle, so as to protect the paint from damage caused by the halter. Such damage is commonly due to the vinyl, plastic, nylon, or cotton halter constantly rubbing against the vehicle exterior during vibration and wind. Thus, strips or pieces of the polyvinyl chloride material are specially placed upon the vehicle to provide a much-needed barrier between the halter and paint. Similarly, strips or pieces of the polyvinyl chloride material may also be placed as barriers between any other existing vehicle protection device and the vehicle itself. Finally, such strips or pieces may be adhered to the vehicle by the method of static cling, wherein electrostatic properties of the material allow the same to tightly engage the vehicle surface absent the usage of adhesives. As such, the adhesion method allows the strips to be removed from the vehicle and re-used conveniently.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous innovations for vehicle protective devices have been provided in the prior art that are described as follows. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, they differ from the present invention as hereinafter contrasted. The following is a summary of those prior art patents most relevant to the invention at hand, as well a description outlining the differences between the features of the present invention and those of the prior art.    1. U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,989, issued to Castillo, titled “Static Cling Vinyl Halter Type Cover For Vehicle Front Protection”
In the patent to Castillo, an improved halter type protective cover is constructed out of static cling vinyl cut to fit over the front part of the hood and front fenders of a car to protect the finish from dirt, bug stains, road grime, tar, flying particles, stones and similar damaging material. It is fastened to the front end by means of the electrostatic properties of the material and without the use of adhesives.    2. U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,621, issued to Lefevre, titled “Vehicle Hood Shield”
The patent to Lefevre covers a hood shield for motor vehicles and the like comprises a layer of flexible, magnetically impregnated material to which is contiguously bonded a soft emulsion layer, the whole being cut in the general shape of a vehicle hood and including V-shaped cuts along the rearward edge thereof to facilitate placement onto a vehicle hood without bunching. Elongate edge trim material, including an inner flap thereof to facilitate imposition of a forced fit, is used to hold together the outer edge of the hood shield and the outer edge of the hood. Closing of the hood holds said edge trim material with enclosed hood shield edge against the remainder of the vehicle thereby inhibiting theft of the device.    3. U.S. Pat. No. 5,945,194, issued to Pester, titled “Fender Cover”
In the patent to Pester, a fender cover includes a generally planar sheet of resilient, flexible, pliant, water-impervious material with a plurality of pockets formed along one edge. The pockets are filled with a high density deformable flowable material such as sand, and are separated by flat valleys, to permit folding of the sheet between the pockets. A first ridge is formed in the sheet proximal the pockets in extending between the side edges, and projecting upwardly from the sheet. A second ridge is formed parallel and rearwardly of the first ridge and also extends from side edge to side edge. Both ridges are preferably formed of loops of the material, gathered together and affixed in a loop. Each ridge forms a hinge-type joint permitting pivotal movement of the pockets to a position generally perpendicular to the sheet at a location rearward of the ridge.    4. U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,347, issued to Pechman, titled “Automobile Hood Cover”
In the patent to Pechman, an automobile hood cover is comprised of a flexible planar substrate of vinyl coated fabric or other plastic material, which substrate has substantially all of its exterior (outwardly facing) surface covered with protective and decorative lace means, namely, either lace cloth or lace indicia. The cloth or indicia form a lace pattern comprised of regularly recurring sets of discrete graphical motifs.    5. U.S. Pat. No. 5,618,073, issued to Criscione, titled “Automobile Rear Bumper Protector”
The Criscione invention is a protective cover for covering the outer surface of a rear bumper of a motor vehicle. The protective cover may consist of a single panel of flexible material, or, alternatively, two panels of flexible material and a central portion formed from a transparent polymer that provides visual access to a rear license plate that may be located in a recess formed in the rear bumper. The protective cover is secured in place across the rear bumper by straps that are looped through attachment handles affixed to the motor vehicle's rear wheel.    6. U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,925, issued to Brown, titled “Vehicle Protective Cover”
The Brown invention is a removable protective padding for preventing chips, dents, scrapes and nicks to the doors and sides of a parked vehicle which is covered by this protective padding. This padding will extend from just front of the front door edge to just in front of the rear wheel well. It is held in position by magnets. The height of the protective pad is typically about twenty inches and covers only the area most susceptible to damage from the opening of doors of adjacently parked vehicles. The plastic is a clear plastic such as polyvinyl chloride. It is placed on the car side when it is parked and is removed when it is to be driven.    7. U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,670, issued to Walter, titled “Method And Apparatus For Applying Self-Adhesive Protective Sheeting To Vehicle Bodies”
The Walter patent discloses a method and apparatus for automatically applying self-adhesive protective sheeting to surface parts of vehicle bodies, a specific rectangular piece of protective sheeting in the form of stock roll is grasped on its non-adhesive side, using a robot-controlled tentering frame with suction legs, is drawn off and is cut off. Before the sheeting blank is laid on to the body, in the freely stretched-out state tear-off lines are perforated, preferably from the non-adhesive sheeting side, in the region of accessory parts by means of a perforating device guided along definite contour lines. Thereafter the protective sheeting, which is thus prepared and stretched out so as to be free of creases in the tentering frame, is lowered in the correct position onto the associated part by the handling robot and laid onto the surface part so as to be free of bubbles. The sheetings are subsequently pressed down in a brushing manner under an elastic brushing bar extending over the entire vehicle width. In the region of glued-over gaps in the vehicle body surface, the protective sheeting is severed and the cut edges are pressed down. In the region of accessory parts, protective sheeting parts are drawn off along the perforated tearing lines and openings are thus made in said regions in a manner appropriate for assembly.    8. U.S. Pat. No. 5,931,522, issued to Roskey, titled “Magnetic Motor Vehicle Body Protection Apparatus And Method Of Use Of The Same”
In the patent to Roskey, a magnetic motor vehicle body protection apparatus includes a sheet of flexible magnetic material of a thickness capable of being cut with scissors. Markings are provided on the sheet providing an outline of a portion of a body of an motor vehicle. The sheet is cut to size and magnetically adhered to a panel section of a vehicular body with the sheet substantially contiguous with that portion of the vehicular body being covered, such that any scrape or blow to that portion of the body is absorbed by the sheet.    9. U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,974, issued to Tomiyama, titled “Method Of Protecting Coating Film”
In the patent to Tomiyama, disclosed is a method of temporarily protecting a surface of a top coating of a coating finished automobile, which method comprieses (A) adhering a plastic film having a releasable pressure-sensitive adhesive layer to a body surface of the coating finished automobile and/or (B) heating a heat-shrinkable plastic film to be shrinked so as to fit to an intended shape and to cover the body surface of the coating finished automobile; which method comprises applying to the body surface of the coating finished automobile a plastic film prepared by intermittently coating a releasable pressure-sensitive adhesive layer to cover the body of the coating finished automobile; which method comprises covering the, body surface of the coating finished automobile with a plastic film having a rough surface on a side contacting with a coating surface, and fixing a terminal of the film and heating, when needed, to cover in conformity with a body shape; and which method comprises subjecting a plastic film to vacuum forming to cover a body surface of the coating finished automobile in conformity with the body shape.    10. U.S. Pat. No. 5,696,199, issued to Senkus, titled “Pressure-Sensitive Adhesive Polyacrylate Polymer And Method Of Making”
The Senkus invention is a fluid permeable composite structure having active particulate bonded together using a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) polymer microparticulate. Use of the PSA polymer microparticulate to bond the active particulate together produces a bonded structure that, unlike previously-developed active bonded structures, is flexible and therefore can be conformed into a variety of shapes. The shaped structures may be used as gaseous filters in a wide variety of respirators.    11. U.S. Pat. No. 5,888,615, issued to Mascarenhas, titled “Cling Films And Articles”
The Mascarenhas invention relates to an ink-imprinted and reusable multilayer cling film of at least one layer in combination with a substrate having a rigid smooth surface comprising a non-vinyl flexible polymer cling film which has two smooth surfaces, is substantially free of added plasticizer and provides a 180 degree. peel force after application to glass of from about 30 to about 2500 gms after aging in a 140 degree. F. oven for 72 hours. In another embodiment, the invention relates to an ink-printed and reusable multilayer cling film of at least two layers which can cling to substrates having a rigid smooth surface without the use of an adhesive material. For example, such multilayer cling film may comprise: a first layer of at least one thermoplastic polymer film having an ink-imprinted upper surface and a smooth lower surface; and a second layer which is a polymeric cling film having an upper surface and a lower surface and comprising at least one non-vinyl thermoplastic elastomer wherein the upper surface of the second layer is in contact with and adhered to the lower surface of the first layer.    12. U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,764, issued to Schwarz, titled “Interactive Wall Covering System”
The patent to Schwarz illustrates an interactive wall covering system having at least one substrate sheet and at least one non-adhesive applique which is easily mounted on and easily removed from the substrate sheet. The applique is made of an electrostatic cling material. The substrate sheet has one face receptive to an adhesive for permanently mounting the substrate sheet to a wall. The substrate sheet also has a second face receptive to an electrostatic cling material.
The aforementioned prior art patents that relate to vehicle-covering items mostly cover entire noses, hoods, or other large panels of the vehicle. Methods of adhering such items to the vehicle further entail the usage of magnets and other traditional fasteners. Although certain prior art devices utilize static cling as a means of attachment, such items are typically large sheets or panels that cover general, wide areas of the vehicle.
In contrast to the above, the present invention is a series of strips constructed of a polyvinyl chloride material, which may be specially designed to be placed beneath a halter or “bra” cover of a vehicle, so as to protect the paint from damage caused by the halter due to vibration and wind. Such strips are specifically placed upon the vehicle to provide a much-needed barrier between the halter and vehicle paint, and are adhered to the vehicle by static cling, wherein electrostatic properties of the strips allow the same to engage the vehicle surface absent without using adhesives. Likewise, strips of the polyvinyl chloride material can be placed between other vehicle protection devices and the vehicle, forming a barrier for protection of the paint. Examples of the same are existing mud flaps and molded pieces that protect the vehicle surface from rocks and debris. Thus, the strips function to effectively cover any areas of the vehicle previously left unprotected, and may even be removed from the vehicle and re-used in a convenient manner.